As Petrodollars Pour in Again,
Gulf Nations Take Long View

By

Hugh Pope Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal

Updated Dec. 15, 2000 12:01 a.m. ET

DOHA, Qatar -- High oil revenues are again pouring into the treasuries of the eight states that straddle the world's biggest oil reserves in and around the Persian Gulf -- a total of $170 billion (194.12 billion euros) this year, 75% more than last year and a far greater windfall than any had expected.

But this oil boom is different from the bonanzas of the past, which sent petrodollars washing back into the coffers of international banks. Shocked by their brush with financial ruin of oil at prices as low as $7 a barrel in...